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Flameseeker Chronicles: Introducing Guild Wars 2's Dragon's Reach
Today's edition of the Flameseeker Chronicles is a little bit special. We've got the teaser trailer for Guild Wars 2's next living world release, The Dragon's Reach: Part One. We've got some sweet screenshots provided by ArenaNet to feast your peepers on: aw, yeah. And if that's not enough, I got the chance to chat with Associate Game Director Steven Waller about next week's episode. Check out the video, and then read on!
Flameseeker Chronicles: Returning to a simpler time in Guild Wars
Some days, saving the world from Elder Dragons just feels like such a drag. Every time you put a dragon lieutenant down, you know that another one is, even then, being knit together from crystals or rotting corpses and it won't be all that long before it's time to save the world again. That sort of knowledge can really take a toll on a girl. Making full use of the magic of technology, I've started escaping the pressure of dragonfighting by going back into Guild Wars. Because it's the game that most directly relates to the state of affairs in Guild Wars 2, I've been playing the original Prophecies campaign. I've also been streaming the experience for the uninitiated, so if you'd like to catch up and live the adventure vicariously through me, you can check out the first bits on Massively's Twitch channel. If you'd like to quickly familiarize yourself with where Prophecies sits in the grand scheme of things, I recommend acquainting yourself with our brief history of Tyria. It's been a neat experience so far. I'd like to talk about it with you.
Jukebox Heroes: Guild Wars Prophecies
What's that, you say? A cheap tie-in, you say? Oh, pish posh. It just so happens that I appreciate the rich oeuvre of Jeremy Soule, and the alignment of the planets is... OK, it's a cheap tie-in. I can't help it; Guild Wars has been on my mind this past week, and since the full Guild Wars 2 soundtrack has yet to ship for DirectSong, this will do. Besides, as we well know, music doesn't age at the same pace as games. So why not hit up a soundtrack for the first Guild Wars while we dive into the sequel? At the risk of understatement, I think it's safe to say Jeremy Soule is somewhat well-known in the field of gaming. As a composer, he's tackled projects like Knights of the Old Republic, Icewind Dale, and the last three Elder Scrolls titles. In the Guild Wars community, he is the voice of the musical soul of the game. His compositions are the stuff of heaven: full, ethereal, dreamy. It's almost impossible to separate Soule's work on Guild Wars: Prophecies from the game, especially for those who played Prophecies extensively since its 2005 release. I'll be eager to digest and report on his newest work when it arrives, but until then, let's sample the highlights of his first foray into Tyria.
Discussing Guild Wars 2 iconic characters with author J. Robert King
The Guild Wars lore constitutes stories -- nay, legends -- of remarkable heroism. The depth of this lore has entranced many a player of the game. ArenaNet created a world that enveloped the player in a setting that seemed greater than he. Guild Wars 2 will be no exception. Instantly, the player is surrounded by vivid characters and storylines that reach far beyond what he will ever see in-game. These amazing stories will be explored in a series of books. ArenaNet's Jeff Grubb recently sat down with the author of Edge of Destiny, J. Robert King, to discuss the characters and climate of the second novel based on events surrounding Guild Wars 2. Earlier this year, we met the characters of Destiny's Edge, a motley crew from all walks of Tyria, in the Races trailer. King speaks in depth about each of the different characters and how he personally related to each of them. The author explains in the interview: "[ArenaNet] provided me all kinds of information and images of these characters, but I couldn't write about them until they were mine. And the team gave me the creative freedom to make the characters my own." Definitely take some time to read the full interview on ArenaNet's site, and don't miss Massively's analysis of Edge of Destiny coming up in Monday's Flameseeker Chronicles.
The Perfect Ten: MMO cataclysms
Today sees the launch of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, which represents a destructive "reboot" button on the world of Azeroth. The old has been made new by virtue of fiery explosions that have rent the very earth in twain, and WoW gamers will have to find their footing all over again. As you might imagine, it's made one big-ass mess, which is compounded by the fact that there are no janitor classes in the game to sweep it up (the next hero class, perhaps?). However, the notion of an in-game cataclysm is hardly the sole domain of Activision-Blizzard; on the contrary, large-scale apocalypses pop up all the time in MMOs. After all, nothing grabs the attention like the end of the world (but hey, you still feel fine)! In a list that in no way is meant to capitalize on any expansions that may or may not be on the market, we're going to strap on our Kevlar suits, slather our arms with 1000 SPF sunblock, and take a brief tour of 10 worlds that have dated cataclysms -- and lived to tell the tale.
